A Russian Tu-95 Bear on an airfield, circa 2011. Russia had about 58 of the strategic bombers before it invaded Ukraine in 2022, and has lost about 18 percent of them to Ukrainian drone attacks. (Wikimedia Commons/Alex Beltyukov)

Ukraine Has Been Steadily Destroying Russia’s Tu-95s. Here’s Why That Matters

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Russia stopped building the bombers more than 30 years ago, and it can’t repair or replace them.

Since the start of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Kremlin has seen more than half a million Russian soldiers killed in the fighting. According to new data from British military intelligence, the losses are likely to continue and have done little to deter Russia’s Vladimir Putin from his goal to bring Ukraine under Russia’s sphere of influence.

In total, Russia has faced 1.45 million casualties, with around 450,000 deaths, the heaviest of any nation since World War II. The toll is roughly 100 times greater than the Soviet Union’s losses during its decade-long war in Afghanistan, and more than four times greater than all US military deaths in all wars combined since World War II.

In addition, Russia may have lost more than 10,000 tanks—at least 40........

© The National Interest